India's Gaming Market reaches $2.6 billion; mid-core titles like Free Fire, BGMI most successful games in FY22
Relaxation, making money and killing time is the 3 motivating factors behind gaming in India.
Mobile Gaming
India’s gaming market is blooming and growing like never before in recent years. That rise is reflected in the Indian gaming market hitting $2.6 billion in FY22. The gaming industry is now projected to reach $8.6 billion in FY27, as revealed in the latest report from Lumikai. Here are some key insights about the gaming ecosystem in India.
India has 507 million gamers
India has now reached the mark of half-a-billion gamers, 507 million to be precise. Out of these, 120 million gamers are paying users. That’s a 24% conversion rate. About 48% per cent of gamers in India are spending money on mid-core games.
These are games like Free Fire Max, BGMI, Genshin Impact, and COD: Mobile. There’s also an inclination towards in-app purchases as 65% of paying gamers claimed they’ve made in-app purchases at least once.
When it comes to game downloads, India accounts for 17% per cent globally, which is the highest share of game downloads in FY22. In terms of numbers, Indian gamers in total downloaded games 15 billion times.
Games like Free Fire and BGMI are most successful in India
Mid-core games are the most successful tier of games in India. Games like BGMI, Free Fire, and Genshin Impact record over 80 minutes of average daily playtime per user. The report from Lumikai also reveals a near-equal split between male and female gamers in India. The male: female ratio is 60:40 and it’s split equally between nonmetro and metro cities.
Indian gamers play to relax, make money or killing time
Interestingly, the report also revealed the top 3 motivations for playing games in India. Relaxation, making money and killing time is the 3 motivating factors behind gaming in India. New content, better in-game items and the potential to make money are the main 3 reasons why users pay for games or make in-game purchases.
Lumikai’s report also claims that “a young population with growing gaming-ready smartphone ownership and access to cheap data has led to sustained growth in gaming usage”. The report has accumulated data after taking inputs from a demographic sample of 2,240 respondents, third-party data providers, interviews with industry leaders and Lumikai’s proprietary insights.
“India’s gaming industry this year hit major inflection points, registering strong growth across the board. India crossed half a billion gamers in FY22, up from 450 Mn the year prior," said Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partner, Lumikai.
He added, "Industry growth is expected to be fuelled by a rapidly increasing gamer base, higher conversion to paid users, and increasing sophistication of Indian gamers. With the market now truly mainstream, we are thrilled to be at the forefront of investing in one of the fastest growing and most dynamic sectors in digital India.”